T357 



F6 



y 



357 


'^^\ 


■ -v-""- ■^'' 


■■^" ''•- -"■" ' - ''S;''- '^ '~ "-/--. 


F6 








opy 1 

















PRice 



FIFTEEN CENTS 



HOW w mm 

A 

IMACim 



BY 

•I. K. FINCH. C. E., 

IN«TRUCTOf« IM CIVIL CNGINECRINQ 

COUUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

NCW YORK CITY 




1911 



Copyright, mi 
By J,K FINCH 
First Tho%isimd 



Printtd by 

The Columbia Spectator Pr€$a 

New York City 



CC!.A2^A709 



1+ 






3|oto to ifKlafee a Crating 



By J. K. FINCH, C. E. 



''What's missed in the tracing worii come s^^i 

in the blue print/' — Bng. News. 



The art of making in a minimum of tiia« t 
clear, neat tracing from which blue prints may 
be made is a very necessary accomplishmejit fol 
a young engineer. A large number of engineer- 
ing graduates make their start in their professioa 
in a drafting room, where their ability is judged 
and their promotion depends, to a large exteait, 
on the neatness and accuracy of their drafting 
work. Very often the chief engineer knows his 
assistants only by the work they turn in to hinx, 
and drawings executed in a neat and systematic 
manner always ''look more accurate" and com- 
mand more attention than careless, "sloppy'' 
work. The ability to do drafting well is worth 
dollars and cents to every engineering student 
and, although it can be acquired veny easily, it is 
one of the things that many of our University 
graduates lack. 

]Many books have been written an Mechanical 
Drawing, but they are expensive, and do not 
come to the attention of the average student. A 
few brief remarks on ''How to Make a Tracing'' 
should therefore prove of interest. 



MATERIALS. 

Tracing cloth comes in rolls of various quali- 
ties, and at small differences in icost. It is better 
to purchase rolls which are made up of several 
pieces of cloth (seconds) of good quality than to 
buy continuous rolls of a poorer grade. 

Either side of the cioth can be used for the 
drawing, but when, as is very frequently done, 
the detail is penciled in directly on the cloth, the 
dull side should be used as the ''shiny" or glazed 
side does not take a pencil mark. Detailng di- 
rectly on the cloth saves time and the cost of de- 
tail paper, and insures accurate work. Use a 
3 H pencil. Pencil marks may be easily removed 
and a tracing cleaned by rubbing with a cloth 
moistened with naphtha, gasolene or benzine (ob- 
tained at any drug store or paint shop). This 
freshens up the tracing and does not affect wa- 
terproof ink. A small piece of tracing cloth 
from which thje preparation has been washed out 
with wg.t^r makes a good penwiper and can also 
be used-for the above purpose. 

As soon as the cloth is stretched on the draft- 
ing board, with dull side up, rub the surface with 
a small amount of powdered pumice (obtained 
at drug stores) or the prepared material, called 
"pounce," which is sold by the dealers in drafting 
supplies. This removes the excessive gloss and 
allows the cloth to take the ink more readily. 
Dust the tracing off so as to thoroughly remove 
the pounce before applying ink. Instead of 
pounce many draftsmen prefer to rub the surface 
with a large soft eraser, for, unless all the pow- 
der is removed, it is liable to clog the ruling pen 
and prevent a free flow of ink. 



TMP96-02475^ 



Instruments come at various prices but a good 
draftsman .needs only a set costing from tea to 
twenty dollars and containing the following: 
two ruling pens; one 5^-inch compass, with 
needle, pen and pencil points and lengthening 
bar; one 5J^-inch hairspring divider; one bow 
pen; one bow pencil; and a box of leads. For 
mapping work a contour pen is necessary and a 
road pen very useful, while for structural steel 
drafting a rivet pen saves time. Two 12-inch 
triangular scales — one graduated in fractions of 
an inch (called an Architect's Scale), and one in 
decimals (Engineer's Scale) — preferably of the 
type with graduations on imitation ivory, are in- 
dispensable. Also an 8-inch 45 deg., a 4-inch 45 
deg., and a 9-inch 60 deg. triangle, preferably 
transparent, a couple of French curves of the 
same material, and a 30-inch T-square, with 
transparent edges. 

Ink. Mr. E. C. Easy, C.E., says: ''Faint ink 
never won fair blue print.'* It is absolutely nec- 
essary that the ink used be of the best, and water- 
proof inks should always be used. These should 
he kept tightly corked as they evaporate quickly 
and so become useless for good work. Black ink 
may be thinned by diluting with distilled water, 
to which a few drops of ammonia have been 
added, while the water alone will serve as a dilu- 
tant for colored inks. Black, carmine, blue and 
brown are colors in common use but several 
other colors may be obtained. 

MECHANICAL WORK. 

This is done entirely with the instruments and 
consists of straight and curved lines, either full 
or broken. The lines should be heavy enough to 
blue print properly. Many students make the 

8 



mistake o£ using lines which are too fine. Use 
the medium line oF Plate i. This plate, like the 
other plates, is' a reproduction of actual work on 
tracing, clptff and is the same size as the original. 
Slight ^shadingV as also shown in Plate i, often 
serves -to emphasize certain features. Assume 
the light as coming from the upper left-hand 
corner at. an angle of 45 deg. in a horizontal plane 
(the plane of the drawing) and shade the lines 
which would cast s^^ 

A fine .black line or a medium red Htie may be 
used f^r -dimehsio^n^^^ ''Dotted" lines are some- 
times "used, but they take co.nsiderable time to 
make and produce a rather confusing effect 
where- there ar^ niany dimensions. The full red 
line witH black arrowheads seems to be the most 
satisfactory. Do not break dimension lines to 
insert the figures but place them over the linie. 
This method may not look quite as well as break- 
ing the .line for dimensions but saves considera- 
able time. The; n indicating the dimen- 

sion are^.of course, always in black. 

Broken or dotted lines should be made as 
shown-— each dash straight and full, and all of 
equal length, with sma:ll spaces between. 

Section lilies sliould be heavy red, dot and dash, 
indicating the plane at which the section is taken, 
and tlie'direction in which we arc supposed to be 
looking at; it slioiild be shown by black arrow- 
heads. ' '' " "' 

Where curved and straight lines join, always 
ink in the curved line first, then the straight one 
from it. 

When several lines meet at a point they should 
])Q in'ked in by ruling toward the point. 

Never use a knife to erase on tracing cloth. 
l"se a pencil eraser and plenty of elbow^ grease. 
A good rubber turneth away wrath. 



<fe 



— f//f£ Litf£ 

— /f£'.4yY " 

— Boje/?£JS " 

— Cf/fTSIZ ^^ 
•^ D07T££> *^ 



/2'6^' 



/^//^£J1Sia^ l//f£6 '££S> 

/^JS/$CWS SLACK. ^fe> 




CoJ5/Q£cr 



\ 



///{:oJ^J^£CT ^ ^ 

l>/je£CT/0/y O/^ 1/6MT 




/^£7MOI> 
CJeci£3 



PLATE J • 



A 



''Good lettering covers a multitude of sins^ 

■' — C. B. See. CM. 

The ability to do good freehand lettering is 
probably the controlling feature in producing a 
neat tracing. No matter how well the mechan- 
ical work may be done, f>oor freehand work will 
spoil the whole effect of the drawing; while, on 
the other hand, neat lettering will apparently 
1 cover many defects in the mechanical work. 
1 Freehand lettering can be easily learned by con- 
) stant practice and use, and, alttiough it is prac- 
j tically the most necessary accomplishment to good 
\ drafting and invaluable to a young engineer, yet, 
either through lack of foresight or pure laziness, 
not twenty per cent, of the engineering graduates 
of the present day can do even passable work. 

The principal points to remember are: (i) use 
some standard style and form of lettering and 
use it consistently; (2) make the small letters 
three-fifths the height of the large ones; (3) 
keep the letters on line; and (4) keep them close 
together. 

There are two forms of letters-— the vertical 
and inclined. The inclined is the easier to do 
well and is for that reason the one to learn. 
Plate 2 shows how to obtain the correct angle of 
inclination, which is 75 deg. When starting in to 
learn freehand lettering, it is best to draw three 
horizontal and a number of inclined guide lines, 
but after a little practice it will be found that the 
only lines necessary are the two horizontal lines 
which give the height of the small letters. 

It is a well known fact that the simpler the 
letters, the harder they are to do well. It is, 



tlicrefore^ permissible to introduce what might 
be termed eccentric forms as long as they are 
dear and ccxnform in style to the other letters* 
For example, the letter A if mrde thus /^/4 
is very liable to blot at the top, /4/4 ,wh::r 
the form ^ M is clear and far easic, to mat <■■ 
The tail of the letter R is hard to make if ma;.: 
thus^ /? , while the form ^ ^ is ve 
simple and pleasing to the eye. The letter S ' 
also rather difficult if made ^^ > while t , 
type J^ ^ seems to be more~^easily dors. 
Plate 2 gives a good freehand alphabet consi^' 
Jng of large and small letters, and to be able : 
make this one style well is all that is necessary. 
Note also the form for numerals and especiarv 
the small numbers and arrows indicating the S' 
quence and direction of the strokes which for' 
the letter or numeral There is no better way I 
learn freehand lettering than to s{)end odd m. 
ments in copying Plate 2, making a point of < 
ways forming the letters in the manner show 
This method was first devised by Charles \ 
Reinhardt* and. the student is referred to 1 ^ 
books, "Methanical Drafting" and "Letterii- 
for Students. Engineers and Draftsmen," for 
more complete treatment of the subject. 

Freehand lettering is used because it enables 
us to get more information into a given space 
with clearness than any other method. The ne- 
cessity of keeping the letters close together both 
oU this account and because it looks better is 
therefore self-evident, but is lost sight of by 
many draftsmen. "Extended lettering," shown 
%X the top of Plate 3, is used for such things as 
names of countries, citits, avenues, streets, rivers, 
etc. In this case the above t^emarks, of course. 




^//^B#m^"//ct^#// 




/JBCDEr6HIJKL MNO PQ 

R57UVWXYZSc 
abcdefgh//'J<fmnopqrsfu>^wxyz 



'PlATeZ' 



A 




avemlje: >=? 



-fxTjAipep IcTTee/ffd - 



Fvm 



Jl^ll 



mJW§M3T 



WKfE 



M@mfMUiL mimi 

C/7Jef/Aigineer. 
Dra>//?hyOT C/ieck'd byZT- 



_ 



^ Title - 



11 



^PlA7£3 



do not apply, as it is not necessary to crowd the 
letters to save space, and the extended form is 
used in order to cover as much as possible of the 
object referred to. Many rules have been de- 
vised for spacing letters but they can seldom be 
applied in practice, and the draftsman must de- 
pend solely on his eye to determine the proper 
spacing. 

Dimensions, notes, etc., should always be 
placed parallel to the lower and right-hand bor- 
ders of the drawing when possible, and always 
so as to read from left to right or bottom to top. 
Care should always be taken in placing these 
notes, etc., to place them in open spaces and 
avoid confusion and cramping. 

The form of letters given in Plate 2 may be 
used for titles by adding a few lines indicating 
shading as shown in Plate 3. This makes the 
title ''stand out'' and also covers up defects in 
the letters. In general the title should be in- 
cluded within a rectangle whose sides are from 
one-quarter to one-third the length of those of 
the drawing (for ordinary size drawings) and 
be placed in the lower left-hand corner. The size 
of the letters is a matter that depends mainly on 
the judgment of the draftsman, and .no fixed 
rules can be given. A small printing press or a 
rubber stamp is very useful when a large num- 
ber of drawings of equal size and similar titles 
are to be made. This gives the outline of the 
letters, etc., which can be easily inked in. 

For most freehand work a Gillott No. 303 is 
a good pen and a Gillott No. 404, Ladies' Fal- 
con, and a good ball-pointed pen are also neces- 
sary. To produce a uniform line freehand on 
tracing cloth one must not ''bear down" on the 
pen — just let it rest on the surface of the cloth 
so that the ink will flow freely. 

13 



CONVENTIONAL SIGNS. 

There are a large number of conventional 
signs in use. Every branch of engineering has 
special signs to represent the various things pe- 
cuHar to that particular branch. Plate 4 gives 
the signs in common use for structural work, 
which should be familiar to every engineer, and 
Plate 5 gives some of the various signs used to 
represent topographical features. 

It will be seen from an inspection of these 
plates that some of the signs involve both me- 
chanical and freehand work. The greater part 
of them, however, are entirely freehand and re- 
quire considerable practice to make well. Atten- 
tion must be given to the thickness of the lines 
used, and especially to the shading introduced in 
some of the signs, which is accomplished by an 
increased thickness of the lines (concrete, rock, 
cliff, etc.), or by the addition of extra shade 
lines (rubble concrete, etc.). This shading not 
only brings out more clearly the character of the 
thing which is shaded, but adds greatly to the 
''style'' of the drawing. For finished drafting 
the development of a style is just as important 
as it is in any other art. About all that can be 
said in regard to making these various signs is 
that practice makes perfect. 



BLUE PRINTS. 

Little need be said on this subject, as most of 
the prints are made these days by companies 
which make this their business. Every large draft- 
ing supply company has a blue print department 
where prints are made by arc light, in special 

14 



3,5. Concrete travel Concrete O'nder Concrete 



■■<i-r-i--^s 









P4/J>jb/e Concrete Ash far 

1 — r 



Pi/hh/e 






X 



A -^ 


r / 


2pC7 


i^ 




-^:r, 



- T//7^£/a ~ 



Ends lon^.Sect Cross-Sect 



Ki 



-/l£TALS- 

3teeJ casftron CastStee/ Brass 



m 






^^^ 



Shop 



-E/yfT/nO" 



F/eJd 



Q XX ^ ^ 



Or O 



\:j^ 



=¥¥= 



3E 



Water 



-Af/SC£UAn£OUS - 

Sand 



^ g 



6rayel 






O c 






JEc7r^/7 



PocJc 6rayel^C/ay 




Or/^jnaJ 









^PIATF^-: 



r. 



15 



House 






^oads.^c 




B \ 



"^^^r^ 






/erjces Cc//fJyaiyf^ JvMs Orchard - 





%%."% 

m^^ 



Woods 



6ro3s 



Pasfare 









Corff^purs 



Pepress/on Cf^ 



0(/fcrops.Sic 




<g|0 




Streams 



Shore Line 
V 



Shramp 




»i6 



Pi^jh:^er 

Transit Station 
Tr}ar?guht/on ^' 
Aforyi/ment 
"Border^ 




O 
A 
H 



E-f/ 



Be/?c/7 
^fark 

8.M. 



*piAr£<S'* 



/: 



17 



machines, and at a smaller cost than it would be 
possible to do this work' under the old system of 
sun printing in the engineer's office. The paper 
used is of two kinds known as ''fast'' and "slow" 
printing paper. The fast paper, in common use, 
requires about 40 seconds of bright sunlight. 
Care in handhng and storing the paper before 
use and thorough washing in tepid water after 
printing are essential to good work. 

Prints are made from a tracing in the same 
manner as they are obtained from a plate or film 
in photographic work. The tracing, however, is 
a positive (while the film is a negative) and the 
prints obtained are therefore negative, having 
white lines on a blue field. Corrections or addi- 
tions may be made on a blue print by using, in- 
stead of ink, a solution of common washing or 
baking soda dissolved in water. This fades out 
the blue background and leaves a white mark. 
If a colored line is desired it may be obtained by 
mixing the colored ink with the soda solution 
in proportions determined by trial. When the 
tracing is a drawing showing prehminary work, 
or a map on which work is to be planned out, it 
is desirable to have a positive print, with the lines 
only colored, the back-ground being white. This 
may be done either by the black print process, 
which consists in making a plate from which 
prints are made in a special printing press, or a 
negative may be made from the tracing and posi- 
tive prints obtained from this negative. The 
former process produces very good results but 
requires special, patented machinery. The latter 
method is accomplished by first making a print 
on a special, thin paper which gives white lines 
on a deep brown field. This print is then made 
transparent by using o.ne of the special liquids 

19 



made for this purpose and sold by the dealers, or 
by running it through a solution of paraffine dis- 
solved in benzine. Use a solution of about one 
heaped tablespoon full of flaked paraffine to a 
glass of benzine. The benzine evaporates, leav- 
ing the paraffine. Several immersions may be 
necessary to produce the desired result, but it 
distributes the paraffine more evenly than when 
a saturated solution is used. The same result 
may be obtained by using paraffine oil, castor oil, 
etc., but they dissolve printer's ink and so cannot 
be used to make printed drawings transparent, 
while the above method enables us to get very 
good prints from plates taken from the various 
engineering papers, journals, etc. 

Quite recently A. R. Dodge, 136 Liberty St., 
New York., has gotten out a method of ce- 
menting a drawing or blue print between two 
layers of a water, oil and dirtproof material re- 
sembling celluloid. This is not very expensive, 
and is extremely useful in preserving prints 
which are handled a great deal. Prints may also 
be mounted on cardboard, and the,n coated with 
white shellac. 



20 



FOR SCHOOL and COLLEGE WORK 




F. W. DEVOE & GO'S. 

"PERFECT" 

Dra^vin^ InKs 

Indelible Black Waterproof 

Best ink for Artists, Students 
and Draughtsmen 

Particularly adopted 
for use in making 
drawings that are much handled or ex- 
posed. Brush Tints can be freely ap- 
plied over it without blurring or causing 
the lines to spread. 

Full one ounce bottles with quill 
feeder for filling pen. 

BLACK AND TEN COLORS 

Everything for the draughtsman: 

Instruments, colors, brushes, papers, 

scales, angles, T-squares, etc, 

Devoe quality is always first quality. 
Ask your dealer for Devoe goods or 

come here for them. 

F.W. DEVOE &C.T.RAYNOLDS CO., 

tOI FULTON STREET, NEW YORK CITY 

21 




W^e are in a position to supply 
drafting material of every de- 
scription. Our Catalogue No. 
26 on application. 




Richter Drawing Instruments. 
Kern Drawing Instruments. 
Nassau Drawing Instruments. 
Drawing Boards and Cabinets. 
Drawing and Tracing Papers and Cloths. 
Blue Print and Black Print Papers and 
Cloths. 

Protractors, Scales, Curves, Pencils, 
Inks, Erasing Shields, Rubbers, Tacks, 
Etc., Etc. 
The Best at the Most Equitable Prices. 

KOLESCH ®. CO., 

EstablisKed 1&65 

138 Fulton Street, New YorK, 



FINE INKS and ADHESiVES 

FOR THOSE WHO KNOW 




(Drawing Inks 
Eternal Writing Ink 
Engrossing Ink 
TUTi^/^TTVTC^ /' Taurine Mucilage 
rliLjijrllNO ( Photo Mounter Paste 
Drawing Board Paste 
Liquid Paste 
Office Paste 
Vegetable Glue, Etc. 

Are the Finest and Best Inks and Adhesives 

Emancipate yourself from the use of corrosive 
and ill-smelling inks and adhesives and adopt 
the Higgins Inks and Adhesives. They 
will be a revelation to you, they are so sweet, 
clean, well put up, and withal so efficient. 



At Dealers Generally 



CHAS. M. HIGGINS CO., Mfrs. 

271 NINTH STREET, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



Branches: Chicago, London 



23 



rEB tc tSH 



A Workman is Known by His Tools 
A Draftsman by His Instruments 
K.& E. Goods are always the Best 



We will send you the following outfit for $] 7.00: — one 
complete set of drawing instruments (No. 89 5 N) in- 
cluding hairspring divider (No. 837) in case ; one 
Architect's scale (No. 888 IW) and one Engineer's 
scale (No. 888 3 W) both with white edges ; one 
Xylonite lined T-square (No. 88 1 9C-30"); one each 
Xylonite curves (No. 882 3F and 882 3M) ; and one 
each Xylonite triangles (No. 8802-8", No. 8803-4", 
and No. 8803-8".) 

If you take this set, we will add the following for 
$4.60: one curve pen (No. 696) and one railroad pen 
(No. 697.) 

Add express or postage charges to above. 

Seiid for complete catalogue describing full line of 
supplies for architects and engineers. 

KEUFFEL & ESSER CO., 

127 FULTON ST. GEN ERAL OFFICE & FACTORI ES 

NEWYORK HOBOKEN, N. J. 

CHICAGO ST. LOUIS SAN FRANCISCO MONTREAL 

Drawing Materials, Mathematical and Surveying Instruments 
Measuring Tapes 

24 






Jl NEW CIVIL 

ENGINEERS' 

POCKETBOOK- 

The American Civil Engineers' 
Poclcet Book. 

Editor-in-Chhf, MANSFIELD MERRIMAN. 

The book is divided into thirteen 
(13) Sections, and the editors of the 
various sections are well known in the 
engineering profession and are eminent- 
ly qualified to write in their respective 
fields. 16mo,viiixl380 pages, 944 figures 
and 495 tables. Morocco, $5, net. 

Write for descriptive circular. 

Sons 

One copy del. to Cat. Div. ^^^^ ^^^V 

jfBS -I'i L, Limited 

FPUS. CO. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

iillll 



0"029'9Sb^ 




